Government documents related to former FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover’s purge of gay and lesbian federal government employees will be released after McDermott Will & Emery attorneys scored a pro bono win. The Mattachine Society of Washington, D.C., sought documents relating to an executive order, signed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1953, that allegedly…

A grassroots effort to empower law firm associates to be more charitable has gained some momentum, and some help. Last year, Corey Laplante, then an associate at Skadden Arps, launched The Associates’ Committee, a group that raised more than $200,000 from Big Law associates for legal aid groups and litigation non-profits for the homeless, veterans, survivors of…

How many people were affected by President Trump’s travel ban when it was first put into place and how many more would be if it were allowed to take effect again? Orrick is setting out to answer those questions as part of the legal community’s massive pro bono response to the ban, which Trump introduced…

There’s plenty of pro bono work to go around these days — consider the efforts of lawyers to help people affected by President Trump’s executive order on immigration — but a new initiative led by Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft is designed to tackle an age-old problem in New York City: hunger. The New York firm…

By Casey Sullivan and Stephanie Russell-Kraft, Big Law Business It’s a busy time to be a pro bono lawyer. After President Donald Trump issued an executive order Friday to severely limit immigration from seven Muslim-majority nations, lawyers across Big Law jumped in to help travelers, visa and green card holders, who faced uncertainty and deportation in…

Alfred Dewayne Brown was sent to death row in 2005 for a crime he didn’t commit. The dedication of a Big Law associate, Brian Stolarz, to his pro bono representation of Brown, helped exonerate him. The price Stolarz paid for the hours he put into the case cost him bonuses and the path to…

Late at night on Nov. 8, while “still in the denial phase” about the presidential election results, Riley H. saw a tweet urging “fellow trans Americans: apply for a passport NOW. You likely won’t be able to get one that recognizes your gender in 2017.” The transgender software engineer realized that thousands of other transgender people probably had…

Brian Stolarz was picking up signs everywhere that his time as a lawyer at K&L Gates was limited. A chance encounter in the Baltimore airport with a partner who had recently departed the firm left Stolarz convinced about the nature of the problem: He was spending too much time working on pro bono, when he could…

Fordham Law School has tapped Jonathan Lippman, the retired New York state judge who is now at Latham & Watkins, to lead a newly formed initiative to research and help resolve the country’s access to justice problem. To launch the initiative, the school is hosting a panel discussion tonight, a pre-game of sorts for the last presidential…

Jennifer Eldridge, a first year associate in DLA Piper’s Chicago office, has big aspirations for the next 12 months: She hopes to assist domestic violence victims, file asylum paperwork for refugees, and help some past offenders clear their juvenile criminal records. It’s a bit different than the standard associate workload because Eldridge is one of…